FEDERMAN'S BLOG [the laugh that laughs at the laugh...]

Laugh: yes because when some guy weeps somewhere in the world there is always some other guy who laughs somewhere else: happy balance! Never fails its normal equilibrium: laugh or cry it all comes out the same in the end!

October 16, 2007

LETTER TO FC2

Can I have a copy of my old friend Steve Katz's new book -- I am broke -- I just came back from an expensive but happily busy month in Europe -- there are only a few of us left of the original FC bums -- soon we'll all be gone – I deserve a copy of that book – I hear it's very funny – and I am in need of laughter right now – my computer crashed – I had to buy a new one – more reasons for being broke – send the book to my regular address --

Meanwhile a great piece of news to be passed on to those FC2 writers who deplore that their books are not being reviewed not being sold not being read ...do not despairhang in thereone day you toowhen you turn 80will sign a huge contractwith a major publisher

Federman's new novel which he wrote in French out of despair [because of what's happening to literature in America] entitled CHUT : HISTOIRE D'UNE ENFANCE is now under a generous contract with Les Editions Leo Scheer in Paris [one of the major French publishers who continues to publish literature and not what passes for literature -- look up Editions Leo Scheer

Meanwhile the French version of Return to Manure [rewritten in French by Federman himself] was adapted to the stage and performed in St-Etienne, Villefranche, Lyon, Paris. It was also adapted into a radioplay by Deutschland Radio in Berlin.

Meanwhile to celebrate Federman's 80th birthday several books will appear in 2008 --

in French a book entitled FEDERMAN HORS LIMITES [a 250-page dialogue with a French writer about Federman’s life his work his golf his adventures his misadventures his books and the world in general -- with photos and documents]

in English a book entitled FEDERMAN AT 80 [a collection of some 25 essays about Federman's work by different scholars and writers to be published by SUNY-Press]

A celebration of Federman's oeuvre will take place at Lake Forest College in march 2008 – another in Buffalo organized by former students and friends of Federman in the fall 2008 --

2002 THE TWILIGHT OF THE BUMS (Microfiction, with George Chambers). Altx Press [Boulder, Colorado] Also available as an E- book from Altx.com. German translation (Suhrkamp Verlag), 1998, under the title Penner-Rap. Radio play adaptation under the title The Dialogues of the Bums, Bayerischer Rundfunk, 1997.

2001 LOOSE SHOES: A life Story of Sorts (Fiction in English & French). Weidler Buchverlag (Berlin). German translation under the title Offene Schuhe [same publisher]. Loose Shoes -- Musical composition by Michael Riessler performed in Munich, Ulm, Frankfurt, Cologne, May 2000.

1999 THE PRECIPICE AND OTHER CATASTROPHES (Collected Plays, bilingual edition, English/German). Poetry Salzburg (Austria). Radio play adaptation by Deutschland Radio (Berlin) 1998.

1998 FEDERMAN : FROM A to X-X-X-X [A Recyclopedic Narrative, Edited by Larry McCaffery, Douglas Rice, Thomas Hartl, in collaboration with the author]. San Diego State University Press. Limited edition.

1996 THE LINE (Fiction, chapbook, special limited edition). The Club of Odd Volumes (Amherst, New York). Limited edition. Translated into French.

It was his generosity which initially impressed me, the continuity and inclusion in his storytelling. In fact, being in the same room with Federman is a lot like reading one of his books--sprinkled with double-dashes, at times conspicuously free of punctuation. At other times, he rewrites the story while you watch, and in his transparency, in his willingness to show you the form, you forget there is a writer at all...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INNER-VIEW IN THE FALL 2006 ONLINE EDITION OF RAIN TAXI...

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